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Will Kobe Bryant's Image Survive?

Aired July 21, 2003 - 14:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Kobe Bryant's image as a squeaky- clean and respected basketball star is in jeopardy in the wake of the sexual assault investigation now.
But in cases like this, it's frequently the accuser whose reputation and life is put on public display.

CNN's Michael Okwu explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In almost the same breath that District Attorney Mark Hurlbert announced he will be prosecuting NBA star Kobe Bryant, he warned the media not to focus on Bryant's accuser.

MARK HURLBERT, EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I ask you to respect the victim's privacy in this matter.

OKWU (on camera): Kobe Bryant is a public figure, a star, and we all think we know who he is. The fact is, we don't really know, although he may be a great guy. What we do know is that we don't know who his accuser is. Naturally, we'll all be curious. And so it makes sense to some people that in the court of public opinion, as well as in the courtroom, the accuser would also be on trial. Speculation is already rampant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's a girl who is rumored to be star struck. She named her dog after Mariah Carey. She's auditioning for "American Idol."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're trying to get access to some athlete, especially to a female, sooner or later you're going to find a way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best lawyers will uncover anything she has ever done in her life.

KAREN COLEMAN, RAINN BOARD MEMBER: Oh, gosh, I would have to guess she'd have to go into hiding.

OKWU (voice-over): Karen Coleman, a rape survivor, says anyone who accuses a public figure is at a disadvantage.

COLEMAN: It's easier for us to believe that the person who's accused them is lying because then it doesn't destroy our image of them being a hero. OKWU: William Kennedy Smith may not have been a hero, but that name.

PATRICIA BOWMAN: He raped me.

OKWU: When Patricia Bowman accused him of raping her in 1991, there was much discussion about his great family, her single motherhood, the fact that she met him in a bar. Kennedy was acquainted. Mike Tyson wasn't. But his accuser, Desiree Washington, faced accusations herself, as a gold digging beauty queen who must have implicitly consented to something since she was in his hotel room.

In 1987, Jennifer Levin was portrayed as aggressively sexual in Robert Chambers' so-called preppy murder trial. Her mother would later say her daughter was murdered twice.

It's likely no one wins here. Kobe Bryant, possibly an innocent man, has the right to a fair trial. And that means the life of his accuser, possibly a victim, could be fair game.

Michael Okwu, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, last year, Kobe Bryant was the No. 3 tops sports endorser, appearing in ads for McDonald's, Sprite, and Nike, to name just a few.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: That's about $50 million worth of endorsement money. Will corporations consider pulling their ads, now that Bryant's reputation has been sullied?

Joining us with some insight: from Washington, Eric Dezenhall, a damage control expert and author of the book "Nail 'Em"; here in Atlanta, marketing strategist Laura Ries, our spin team.

Good to have you both with us.

LAURA RIES, MARKETING STRATEGIST: Great to be here.

O'BRIEN: All right, Laura, win, lose or draw in the courtroom, is this a fatal marketing blow for Kobe Bryant?

RIES: Absolutely. I don't know if it's fatal, but it has certainly done him irreparable damage.

It is all about the power of your brand. And Kobe's brand has been severely damaged by this accusation of the sexual assault. You feel for him. You wonder, what is going to happen, what is going to happen to the brand? And there's no doubt that advertisers are going to immediately pull their ads. They're going to seriously consider whether they can get out of those contracts.

And don't forget, too, his NBA contract is up after this season. So what is going to happen with that? There's no doubt he is not going to be able to have the concentration on the court now that he is going to have to be in court in Colorado.

PHILLIPS: So, Eric, is Kobe a wholesome, all-American guy, like everybody has been saying, or is this an image that he and his -- I guess his spin team has sort of crafted through the years?

ERIC DEZENHALL, AUTHOR, "NAIL 'EM": Oh, I'm not sure that it has been such a Machiavellian effort to craft an image.

I think it's a pretty accurate portrayal of who he is. But, unfortunately, in a fight like this, it is the contrast that kills you. If he were known to be a bad actor and he got attention like this, it would not necessarily be devastating, from the perspective of endorsements. But in a situation like this, when what your trust bank holds is the fact that you're wholesome, when we find out the precise opposite, just like we did with Martha Stewart, whose appearance -- everything with her was that she totally had her life together, when we found out she didn't, it's a very resonant story.

And I think that this is devastating for endorsements. And the way commercial endorsers drop you is not to fire you loudly, but, rather, you find that, gradually, your telephone calls don't get returned.

O'BRIEN: All right, Eric and Laura, we are going to have to put you just on hold for just a moment. We apologize for that.

(INTERRUPTED FOR BREAKING NEWS)

PHILLIPS: We were talking about Kobe Bryant and his reputation. Is it tarnished? What will happen to his future?

We're talking about the case, of course, with our spin team, Laura Ries and Eric Dezenhall, damage control experts, I guess we should say.

Where should we pick it up from? We were talking a little bit about the sponsorship, about his image?

RIES: Well, I think the interesting point is, why are we so interested at all in it? Why has it become such a big story?

And I think Eric was exactly right. It's the contrast. He stood as a wholesome brand, a family man, married, a little baby, not doing anything wrong, being a good guy on and off the court. And now we find out there is something totally in wide contrast to what we believed. And people are fascinated by this kind of fall from grace, and like the Martha Stewart story, like the O.J. Simpson story, like even Michael Jackson.

Remember him? He used to be like one of the top celebrity endorsers. He had that big Pepsi deal. And then look what happened to him. He's a pariah now. No one would use him to endorse any product.

O'BRIEN: All right, Eric, let's talk a little bit about strategies. Let's assume for a moment that Mr. Bryant called you up and said: I need some crisis consulting.

PHILLIPS: Intervention.

O'BRIEN: And crisis intervention, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: What would you tell him to do?

DEZENHALL: Well, he's actually done a lot of the right things so far. He's checked off all the right columns. I think that his language has been very emotional. I think it was good for him to go on television, provided that he didn't say very much.

Even the fact that he looked pained actually helps him. But, right now, it's not a Kobe issue in terms of what he can do. It's what his team can do. And, frankly, it's scorched earth. It is going to be a process whereby his team will make him look something (AUDIO GAP)

O'BRIEN: ... point a finger at the accuser.

DEZENHALL: It's dangerous, but inevitable. That's why Kobe can't do it directly. We're going to begin to hear things about her being starstruck. We're going to be hearing about things how she might have put herself in this situation.

As the reason why is, as distasteful as it is, the public draws a sharp distinction between sexual assault and that vague category of stuff that happens with rock stars and athletes in hotel rooms. And what public relations cannot do is make this go away. What it can do is, it can help get him acquitted. But in terms of whether or not it salvages the contracts, that I don't believe it can do. But it can make us like his accuser less, which is very relevant in the court.

PHILLIPS: So, Laura, should the 19-year-old come forward and talk?

RIES: Probably not. She wants to stay hidden, but it's inevitably going to come out. People are going to start talking about her and doing that.

But she's not a brand. Unfortunately -- we don't even know her name. We don't know what she looks like, although there is supposedly some Web site that is publishing this, which is pretty horrific. But long term, I think what is going to become a big brand is this DA out there. And he is going to be on everyone's lips, like Marcia Clark was and Judge Ito. And this is going to become a whole big soap opera. It's not going to go away anytime soon.

And I'd be interested to see how Kobe deals with the season and how the Lakers deal with him and whether or not -- how many games he can play, if he can play, and how much time he is going to be in the courtroom.

PHILLIPS: It's a full-time job, to defend yourself. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.

Laura Ries, Eric Dezenhall, thanks, as always, for your insights.

DEZENHALL: Thanks very much.

RIES: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 21, 2003 - 14:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Kobe Bryant's image as a squeaky- clean and respected basketball star is in jeopardy in the wake of the sexual assault investigation now.
But in cases like this, it's frequently the accuser whose reputation and life is put on public display.

CNN's Michael Okwu explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In almost the same breath that District Attorney Mark Hurlbert announced he will be prosecuting NBA star Kobe Bryant, he warned the media not to focus on Bryant's accuser.

MARK HURLBERT, EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I ask you to respect the victim's privacy in this matter.

OKWU (on camera): Kobe Bryant is a public figure, a star, and we all think we know who he is. The fact is, we don't really know, although he may be a great guy. What we do know is that we don't know who his accuser is. Naturally, we'll all be curious. And so it makes sense to some people that in the court of public opinion, as well as in the courtroom, the accuser would also be on trial. Speculation is already rampant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's a girl who is rumored to be star struck. She named her dog after Mariah Carey. She's auditioning for "American Idol."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're trying to get access to some athlete, especially to a female, sooner or later you're going to find a way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best lawyers will uncover anything she has ever done in her life.

KAREN COLEMAN, RAINN BOARD MEMBER: Oh, gosh, I would have to guess she'd have to go into hiding.

OKWU (voice-over): Karen Coleman, a rape survivor, says anyone who accuses a public figure is at a disadvantage.

COLEMAN: It's easier for us to believe that the person who's accused them is lying because then it doesn't destroy our image of them being a hero. OKWU: William Kennedy Smith may not have been a hero, but that name.

PATRICIA BOWMAN: He raped me.

OKWU: When Patricia Bowman accused him of raping her in 1991, there was much discussion about his great family, her single motherhood, the fact that she met him in a bar. Kennedy was acquainted. Mike Tyson wasn't. But his accuser, Desiree Washington, faced accusations herself, as a gold digging beauty queen who must have implicitly consented to something since she was in his hotel room.

In 1987, Jennifer Levin was portrayed as aggressively sexual in Robert Chambers' so-called preppy murder trial. Her mother would later say her daughter was murdered twice.

It's likely no one wins here. Kobe Bryant, possibly an innocent man, has the right to a fair trial. And that means the life of his accuser, possibly a victim, could be fair game.

Michael Okwu, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, last year, Kobe Bryant was the No. 3 tops sports endorser, appearing in ads for McDonald's, Sprite, and Nike, to name just a few.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: That's about $50 million worth of endorsement money. Will corporations consider pulling their ads, now that Bryant's reputation has been sullied?

Joining us with some insight: from Washington, Eric Dezenhall, a damage control expert and author of the book "Nail 'Em"; here in Atlanta, marketing strategist Laura Ries, our spin team.

Good to have you both with us.

LAURA RIES, MARKETING STRATEGIST: Great to be here.

O'BRIEN: All right, Laura, win, lose or draw in the courtroom, is this a fatal marketing blow for Kobe Bryant?

RIES: Absolutely. I don't know if it's fatal, but it has certainly done him irreparable damage.

It is all about the power of your brand. And Kobe's brand has been severely damaged by this accusation of the sexual assault. You feel for him. You wonder, what is going to happen, what is going to happen to the brand? And there's no doubt that advertisers are going to immediately pull their ads. They're going to seriously consider whether they can get out of those contracts.

And don't forget, too, his NBA contract is up after this season. So what is going to happen with that? There's no doubt he is not going to be able to have the concentration on the court now that he is going to have to be in court in Colorado.

PHILLIPS: So, Eric, is Kobe a wholesome, all-American guy, like everybody has been saying, or is this an image that he and his -- I guess his spin team has sort of crafted through the years?

ERIC DEZENHALL, AUTHOR, "NAIL 'EM": Oh, I'm not sure that it has been such a Machiavellian effort to craft an image.

I think it's a pretty accurate portrayal of who he is. But, unfortunately, in a fight like this, it is the contrast that kills you. If he were known to be a bad actor and he got attention like this, it would not necessarily be devastating, from the perspective of endorsements. But in a situation like this, when what your trust bank holds is the fact that you're wholesome, when we find out the precise opposite, just like we did with Martha Stewart, whose appearance -- everything with her was that she totally had her life together, when we found out she didn't, it's a very resonant story.

And I think that this is devastating for endorsements. And the way commercial endorsers drop you is not to fire you loudly, but, rather, you find that, gradually, your telephone calls don't get returned.

O'BRIEN: All right, Eric and Laura, we are going to have to put you just on hold for just a moment. We apologize for that.

(INTERRUPTED FOR BREAKING NEWS)

PHILLIPS: We were talking about Kobe Bryant and his reputation. Is it tarnished? What will happen to his future?

We're talking about the case, of course, with our spin team, Laura Ries and Eric Dezenhall, damage control experts, I guess we should say.

Where should we pick it up from? We were talking a little bit about the sponsorship, about his image?

RIES: Well, I think the interesting point is, why are we so interested at all in it? Why has it become such a big story?

And I think Eric was exactly right. It's the contrast. He stood as a wholesome brand, a family man, married, a little baby, not doing anything wrong, being a good guy on and off the court. And now we find out there is something totally in wide contrast to what we believed. And people are fascinated by this kind of fall from grace, and like the Martha Stewart story, like the O.J. Simpson story, like even Michael Jackson.

Remember him? He used to be like one of the top celebrity endorsers. He had that big Pepsi deal. And then look what happened to him. He's a pariah now. No one would use him to endorse any product.

O'BRIEN: All right, Eric, let's talk a little bit about strategies. Let's assume for a moment that Mr. Bryant called you up and said: I need some crisis consulting.

PHILLIPS: Intervention.

O'BRIEN: And crisis intervention, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: What would you tell him to do?

DEZENHALL: Well, he's actually done a lot of the right things so far. He's checked off all the right columns. I think that his language has been very emotional. I think it was good for him to go on television, provided that he didn't say very much.

Even the fact that he looked pained actually helps him. But, right now, it's not a Kobe issue in terms of what he can do. It's what his team can do. And, frankly, it's scorched earth. It is going to be a process whereby his team will make him look something (AUDIO GAP)

O'BRIEN: ... point a finger at the accuser.

DEZENHALL: It's dangerous, but inevitable. That's why Kobe can't do it directly. We're going to begin to hear things about her being starstruck. We're going to be hearing about things how she might have put herself in this situation.

As the reason why is, as distasteful as it is, the public draws a sharp distinction between sexual assault and that vague category of stuff that happens with rock stars and athletes in hotel rooms. And what public relations cannot do is make this go away. What it can do is, it can help get him acquitted. But in terms of whether or not it salvages the contracts, that I don't believe it can do. But it can make us like his accuser less, which is very relevant in the court.

PHILLIPS: So, Laura, should the 19-year-old come forward and talk?

RIES: Probably not. She wants to stay hidden, but it's inevitably going to come out. People are going to start talking about her and doing that.

But she's not a brand. Unfortunately -- we don't even know her name. We don't know what she looks like, although there is supposedly some Web site that is publishing this, which is pretty horrific. But long term, I think what is going to become a big brand is this DA out there. And he is going to be on everyone's lips, like Marcia Clark was and Judge Ito. And this is going to become a whole big soap opera. It's not going to go away anytime soon.

And I'd be interested to see how Kobe deals with the season and how the Lakers deal with him and whether or not -- how many games he can play, if he can play, and how much time he is going to be in the courtroom.

PHILLIPS: It's a full-time job, to defend yourself. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.

Laura Ries, Eric Dezenhall, thanks, as always, for your insights.

DEZENHALL: Thanks very much.

RIES: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com